Today started out finishing up the church scene which took longer as expected. We had a lot of different material that we would be able to choose from. We experimented with the start of the sequence and instead of using the take shot on a tripod we used a hand healed on which looked great but now we had to redo the beginning. We then checked the time and our clip was 30seconds to long. Even without any titelcards.We tried shorten the runtime by cutting down the start to a shorter runtime with stylized time jumps in time. Our challenge now is to get the runtime down which could be done by shortening a take where James walks down a road which durats for 30 seconds right now but we might sadly end up cutting the encounter with the dog.
Today was the first time we saw the footage we shoot during our shoot day! We started editing. We first watch back the footage we shoot and sorted out the takes which we want to use. We found out that all the takes where the murderer and the dog were shoot for some reason in slow-motion, but this is only a minor set back we just sped the scene up and we are going to ask James the actor of the. Murderer to rerecord his line which we will then add. Afterword’s we started editing the takes together. We got a bit carried away by details during this meeting so next time we got to ensure to stay focused and finish the first ruff cut. On the bright sight we stayed a bit behind and Bert taught me how to use masks in premiere pro. We all agreed to find music over the weekend which we would like to use in the sequence.
The first opening credits that would classifie as a opening title sequence were at the start of the 1932 paramount pictures film ‘A Farwell to arms’. Opening credits used to be simple cards with typography on them. These cards are a relic from silent films. A sheet with the credit (or title) used to be rolled Infront of the camara to create the title card. Later on transparent sheets were used for title sequences. The one minute sequence from ‘A Farwell to arms’ introduced a new trend of making these credits more exciting. Eight years later ‘Walt Disney’s fantasia’ was the first sound film to not use any form of opening credits. Todays opening title sequences have become their own art form. Studios often hire different creatives like Kyle Cooper who specialise in this filed.
If we look at logos especially from big studios that have been around for decades we notice that they really haven’t changed much. Off course these logos have evolved due to technological advancement in computer generated images (CGI) but the logos stay the same this is done not only to be easily recognised but also nostalgia.
Evolution of the Universal logo from 1912 to now:
Evolution of the Disney logo:
The lion in MGMs icons logo used to be an actual lion:
But since 2021 the new logo is completly CGI:
The opening title sequence in Shaun of the dead a comedy horror film from 2004 by Edgar Wright is slow pasted the titles do not move with the camera but they are stuck in the scene adding to the unrushed feeling of the sequence these things in connection to the already slow moving humans foreshadow the zombies. The bowled ruff typography demonstrates danger.
Zombieland’s (Zombie land from 2009 is a action horror comedy,) titles are destroyed by the violence on screen. In a way breaking the fourth wall which demonstrates on one hand the absurdity of what’s happening on screen but also intensifies the situation.
The Suicided Squad a action comedy from 2021 features retro looking opening titles in warm colours creating humour through the juxtaposition of warm light heartedness to the brutal events on screen a theme that takes place throughout the film.
When it comes to our opening titles I believe that we should take inspiration from these films and use bold typography using light colours and stylized text that is influenced by what is happening in the scene in order to highlight the light heartedness and comedy of the movie and the juxtaposition to its topic.
Pause. What studio would distribute (sell) our sequence if it was a feature film. If you search on the internet for distributing company’s it lists thousands of options. We need to first narrow down, what we are looking for? Our Media product is a Film. Most of the big Film studios have their own distributing company’s. The Walt Disney company for example distributes most of their products through a company called ‘Disney Media distribution’ (DMD). Sony releases their productions through Sony Picture releasing. But there are also companies that distribute media products produced by different Studios. Netflix has distributed a vast variety of media products. Netflix not only licences media products in order to present them on their website but they also produce in house and acquire exclusive streaming rights to content.
I started looking at similar media products mood and genre wise like e.g. Hot fuzz and Scary movie as our Film would likely be categorized as a horror action comedy. Scary movie a horror comedy movie from 2000 was distributed (to theatres in the us) by Dimension Films, who amongst other things released the Scream films. But they are focused on American markets and products and our film is set in a little British village and is likely to be more appealing to a UK audience. Hot fuzz a British action comedy from 2007 was distributed in the UK by Universal Pictures International (UPI) who have amongst other things released Inglorious Basterds. While UPI certainly are experts in their field they might be to big of a company and are likely to focus on products with large names attached to them. Therefore, looking at company’s who also publish Indi films is probably smarter. Kaleidoscope have distributed a wide variety of feature films of all genres and branded documentary’s world wide and in the UK and seem to be a suitable distribution company. Bulldog Film Distribution is a completely independent company that focuses on releasing films in the UK and Ireland they seem to mostly be releasing low to mid budget films. In comparison Bulldog Film Distribution (BFD) to Kaleidoscope BFD is likely to be the more effective in the UK due to their focus on the area but this might lead to more complications if we wanted to release our film world wide because we would need to find another company. Another note worthy distributing opportunity would be brit box, a video subscription service created by BBC and itv, as a local British feature would suit their niece programming.
In the end BFD would most likely be most appropriate for a traditional distribution due to their experience in the UK and with Indi productions of all genres. But being acquired by Netflix for the exclusive rights would offer a lot of exposure for our picture to a large diverse audience in the UK and world-wide. Netflix is famous for their wide variety of original content form reality shows like the kissing booth to the critically acclaimed and Oscar front runner The power of the dog, and how they are able to find a audience for their products. A niche product in the great sceam of content like ours with no pre soled elements could profit from Netflix.
Credits: We as a group sat down and thought of the answers together. I then suggested to make the video seem as if were at a pressconfrence. Pablo and I set infront of the camera and answered the questions and Bert keyed the background and added a come-on backdrop and banner for the table. I then added subtitles. and music.
Second video:
Credits: We as a group came up with the answers then looked for a room to film in and. We ended up filming the video in one of the media classrooms . Pablo and I answered the questions while Bert edited the video.
The shoot day started at 8:50 the hole crew met up and we discussed our next steps. We had more or less an hour left until our cast was available so we decided to make some last adjustments and perpetrations. Bert and Pablo were supposed to start putting the blood on the apron while I got the priest costume form the theatre department. I then joined them putting the blood on the apron. After trying different amounts of blood we decided on more stylized marks all-over the apron and we ended up with a very bloody look. We even developed different tequnices but the key learnings were more, more, more fake blood!
We then moved on to the first location, a boarding house on campus (‘The Lodge’), we set up our camera and decided to first get a basic shot on a tripod which would only show the legs of our actors. We had the choice between tow doors. A ‘normal’ house door, which looked great but on the door handle was a code panel which made it seem as if it was a communal living area and not a private house another door looked a bit like a barn gate we decided to use the ‘normal’ door as it seemed more appropriate to our scene and simply framed it in away you wouldn’t be able to see the code panel. We then looked at the movement in the scene there were some limitations that we needed to keep in mind. For example we wouldn’t be able to spill extra blood or rather create a realistic wound on the actresses stomach after she gets steps therefore you shouldn’t be able to see the her stomach when and after she falls. James would hide her stomach by standing Infront of it her while she’s still falling when she’s laying on the ground we advised her to fall with her legs angled towards the camera thereby hiding her stomach. The Knife was already bloody when we started I spread blood all over it and especially at the tip. In order to make the murder seem more brutal I wanted the knife to not be visible before he stabs her. This way the blood would be more effective. We worked out the angle in which James would need to hold the knife so it wouldn’t be visible or at least not visible for a long time. We framed our shots with the stereotypical cinema bars as we thought this would match the vibe we were going for. I also directed the way James would walk. We tried some variations, in tempo and also the way he would carry himself he shouldn’t seem to nervous or to excited but still as if he is happy to do this as if it brings him joy. After we got a few takes sometimes with some variations of how the action would take place e.g. how often James knocks on the door or if the door would close or not. This was quiet easy to do because in order for the door to stay open after the victim opens it someone would need to stand behind the door hand hold it. When we then wanted the door closed they would simply let go. We rotated in three decisions one person would kneel behind the camera and operate the camera the other tow of us would either hold the mic or deal with the door. After we got the basics we tried something that we had in mind from the start. It was a hand. healed take that would show the killer walking towards the house (downwards from his knees). We then moved on and shoot some establishing shot of the house. We filmed from a lower angle how James would approach the house stop and go closer. the low angle was supposed to make him seem more epic. I placed a rock on the ground as a marker so James would know where to stand that way the framing would work and we wouldn’t need to adjust the focus. Finally, we did some takes of James walking and experimented with some pans and tilts.
At approximately 11:20 am we drove to ST. Holmberry to film some shots of James traveling and his encounter with a dog. We filmed our first shot at what we thought empty village street. But cars wouldn’t stop passing by this was especially uncomfortable for James as he was standing in a bloody apron with a knife alone in the middle of the street, although we advised him to fooled his apron and hide the knife while were not filming this wasn’t always possible because sometimes cars passed by while we were shooting or right before. But James was always really polite to the people and we all copied this welcoming energy when the people passed by that we were standing behind a huge camera and tripod probably also helped that our present wasn’t alarming. In our first take James walked the down the street and near the end made a turn to the left. We decided that this didn’t seem right so we told him to start moving in a diagonal line. During the next take a stood behind the camera and gave him hand signs how he was supposed to move. After that the best actor in our sequence arrived on set. Our media teacher’s dog. After everyone was adored the dog for a bit we started setting up the camera Bert and I were in difference about how we should set up the wide shot. We were filming at a street were on one side was a tall hedge and on the other side were some cars. I wanted to place the camera in the middle of the road as I thought that that way the shot composition would be more interesting. Bert believed that the shot would look be better if we were only to see the green as it would highlight the quietness of the village. We asked our media teacher who agreed that the shoot in centre of the street would offer a more interesting shot. While James and Tom who played the dog walker acted out their scene we tried to remember where they were stopping for continuity so when we later on shoot medium and close ups they would stop at the same spot. Another thing I learned today was to shoot as littles as possible with dogs. While they are incredibly happy and initially raise the happiness level of everyone at set they are not great at upholding content unity. For minutes straight we tried to shoot a close up of the dog jumping up on James.
After lunch back at school we picked up another Tom the actor who is portraying the priest. When the day started, we didn’t know he was going to play him but he was free and happy to do it so we were really excited. When we arrived in the church, and he put on his costume we couldn’t believe how well he looked in his costume. I looked at the practical lighting in the church and the location in general and placed Clare the actress who portraited the villager on a seat next to the corridor. I started out telling tom to stand in one of the rows and to Clare’s left so she could easily move but the framing felt odd because why wouldn’t the priest stand in the corridor so we placed him in the corridor and a bit further down the back so Clare could easily stand-up greet James and leave. On set we worked shop the dialogue while I had written some backup lines I wanted the actors to be able to free to improvise this way I hoped their dialogue would suit them better and it did! They came up with some hilarious lines and were able to riff. I then talked to them, and we shortened the dialogue as this was supposed to be a brief conversation. After the wide shot we moved on to some mid shots and close ups. For Clare’s closeup I wanted her to talk to Tom about a hideous sin she had committed. While we are most likely not going to use this either way I think it helped both of them understand the situation they’re characters are in better. I was constantly worried about the 180 degree rule but my teammates and our media teacher ensured me that we were okay. We then moved on and set up the camera to shoot the murders conversion. Originally planned to have James kneel down Infront of the alter but. it was to far away. So we decided to scrap the kneeling bit and they would just stand further down the church this would also demonstrate a stronger conception between the characters. This turned out to be a hard scene to shoot. Because someone had released the giggles. First Tom who didn’t even know that he is going to be in this video and who is not an actor needed to memories the lines and always switched certain parts. Important to remember is even when he switched a line to always keep going. After both of them new their lines I talked to them about the pronunciation of the words they were going to say and which parts they should stress in order to match the feel of the scene. This and of course working with the dog was the most fun part of the day for me as work shopping the dialogue and talking to the actors about their characters and how these would act allowed me to really be creative. This was also the first time we needed additional lighting earlier we shot outside and the natural lighting worked great, the practical lights in the middle of the church also worked well but now as we were further back we need to add some ligth. We added some soft orange light which was not intense (thereby simulating the practical lights in the church) because this area was nearly completely dark in the previous wide shots. We also added a steal collared back light from the left (simulating the light coming from a widow) which would outline the actors silluett. This light setup also resulted in one side being filled with shadows. This added to the mysterious and dark feel of the scene. In order to finish all the scenes with the actors we filmed James walking into/ towards the church. We did tow variations one where James would come from the street and another one where he would immerse from the graveyard. We had one more idea with James so we went back into the church placed the camera on the ground and tilt it a bit upwards this way James would seem really powerful. We filmed how James enters the church and the idea was that you would only see his sluett because the light from outside would be nearly the only source of light. We were nearly finished so we went outside down to hill in order to film an establishing shot of the church we off course needed to adapt the apprature and tried a few different camera movement. We tried out some different movements and then we could finally say:
